Historically, African American women have been underrepresented in health care planning and research. In particular, research with middle-age African American women is virtually non-existent, although, they represent a significant proportion of the at risk and HIV positive population. HIV/AIDS among African American women is a serious problem in the central Illinois urban centers of Champaign-Urbana, and Bloomington-Normal. Our purpose in this study is to explore the relationships between social, cultural, and individual factors and middle-age African American women's risk taking and protective practices related to HIV/AIDS. The target population is African American women between the ages of 40 and 65 years old, English speaking, HIV negative or have never been tested for HIV, and capable of giving informed consent. Three theories form the conceptual framework guiding the research, the Afrocentric paradigm, the theory of gender and power, and social cognitive theory. Grounded theory methodology will guide the collection of qualitative and quantitative data. [unreadable] [unreadable] The study is designed to answer the following research questions: What risk taking behavior and prevention behavior do middle-age African American women engage in? What factors influence middle-age African American women's risk taking and prevention behaviors? What do middle-age African American women know about HIV and AIDS? What beliefs do middle-age African American women hold with regard to ethnic identity, spirituality, and affective knowing? Do middle-age African American women's beliefs about self-efficacy for condom use influence condom use? What are middle-age African American women's beliefs about sexual communication and negotiation skills in relation to condom use? Do middle-age African American women believe there is a relationship between AIDS knowledge and risk taking or prevention practices? Do middle-age African American women's feelings about AIDS influence their risk taking or prevention practices? Sample size for the focus groups and interviews is estimated to be 50-75. Purposive sampling will be used to select participants. Analysis of qualitative data will proceed concurrently with data collection using constant comparison technique. Numerical data will be analyzed using descriptive statistical techniques. Findings of the study will be used to further develop an instrument for pilot testing and large scale survey in preparation for intervention research. [unreadable] [unreadable]